Post on 25-Feb-2016
description
Parliament and Public Engagement: two sides of the same
coin?
Cristina Leston-Bandeira(ESRC – RES-000-22-4072)
ECPRD, Parliaments on the net IX, May 2011
Contents
• Discourse of political disengagement
• The endless pursuit of trust
• The paradoxes of parliament
• Marrying Participatory with Representative Democracy
Context of discourse on political disengagement• Decline vote turnout• Decline in trust• Political discourse of vote
apathy• But...
• Still, huge area of focus• New media: first a
panacea, then a must
Impact of internet on parliaments
• Internet: opening up • But many challenges also
• One of the most exposed political institutions
• Questioning of legitimacy• Parliament has come to
symbolise political disengagement
A unique institution
Collective
Visible
Accountable
• No single institutional voice
• Differing (opposing) agendas
• Multiplicity of audiences
• Temporary leaderships (vs permanent staff)
Representative institution
not about participatory democracy
Some of the challenges in adopting new media• Slow processes• Difficult combination with technology
• An a-political political institution• Challenge of a single corporate image and voice• Personification of competing actors
The paradox of parliament and new media
vsPersonal, individual
and spontaneous
nature of new media
Neutral, collective and slow nature of
parliaments
Developing the paradox
How to make the most of new media tools in the context of non-personal, non-immediate and ultimately a-political spaces such as parliaments?
How to support the political voice of parliament?
How to engage with the public in this context?
Developing Public Engagement
• Huge demand for online opening up
• Large investments on public engagement - namely through new media tools
• Development of communication/information services
• Great focus on citizen input
• Great focus on participatory democracy tools
Marriage between Participatory and Representative Democracy
ParliamentRepresenta
tive Democracy
Participatory
Democracy
The perverse effects of Public Engagement
• Activities mainly a-political, a-personal, a-individual
• Public engagement becoming a product in itself
• Contradictory pursuit of participatory democracy
• Undermining of representative and political role of institution
Summing up - two sides of same coin?• Endless pursuit of trust not
entirely helpful
• Fine balance between:– Impartiality and Political– Accessibility and Representing– Public Engagement and The
Business
• Looking for:– Integration of political
meaning– Acceptance of Representative
remit
Thank you
Photos from respective parliaments’ websites or iStockphoto.com
C.C.Leston-Bandeira@hull.ac.ukwww2.hull.ac.uk/fass/managing-parliaments-image.aspx
But...
Decline turnout not that significant (Franklin, Rose)
Trust varies according to external variables (Dalton
et al)
Huge increase of participatory democracyDevelopment of Critical Citizens (Norris)
Summing up - two sides of same coin?• Endless pursuit of trust not
entirely helpful
• Fine balance between:– Impartiality and Political– Accessibility and Representing– Public Engagement and The
Business
• Looking for:– Integration of political
meaning– Acceptance of Representative
remit